Search Google Appliance

Military

The Museum's superb military collections document the history of the men and women of the armed forces of the United States. The collections include ordnance, firearms, and swords; uniforms and insignia; national and military flags and banners; and many other objects.

The strength of the collections lies in their enormous depth. Some 3,000 military small arms and 2,400 civilian firearms document the mechanical and technological history of the infantryman's weapons from the beginning of the gunpowder era to the present. Among the 4,000 swords and knives in the collection are many spectacular presentation pieces. The collections also include Civil War era telegraph equipment, home front artifacts from both world wars, early computers such as ENIAC, Whirlwind, and Sage, and materials carried at antiwar demonstrations.

This .54 caliber smoothbore, percussion lock pistol was made by the Palmetto Armory of Columbia, South Carolina around 1853. This pistol is brass mounted with a black walnut stock and an iron swivel type ramrod.

The lockplate is stamped “COLUMBIA/S.C. 1853” at the rear and is stamped “PALMETTO ARMORY S*C*” in a circle around a palmetto tree under the flashpan. The left side of the barrel near the breech is stamped “WM GLAZE & CO”.

History:

The Palmetto Armory was established in 1852 by Columbia silversmith and jeweler, William Glaze and his associate Benjamin Flag. They purchased their equipment from Asa Waters of Milbury, Massachusetts. This armory initially retained its original name, the Palmetto Iron Works, which was famous for making tools, barrels and cotton gins. In 1851 the state of South Carolina contracted this company to produce arms for the South Carolina militia in preparation for a potential war.

In addition to muskets and rifles, the Palmetto Armory produced 2,000 Model 1842 Palmetto Percussion Pistols for this contract between the years 1852 and 1853. These pistols were among the first to be issued to Confederate Troops during the Civil War. By 1860, any of the additional pistols that had not been sold to the federal government were sold to the state government. The factory was destroyed by General Sherman’s troops during the Civil War in February 1865.

This .36 caliber Elgin patent percussion cutlass pistol with leather sheath was made by Morrill, Mossman, and Blair of Amherst, Massachusetts. This pistol is famous for its square black pointed trigger. The German Sheath is black and in good condition with silver at the throat and tip.

The pistol is stamped “CAST STEEL” on the barrel.

History:

Morrill, Mossman and Blair went into the business of manufacturing arms on April 1, 1836. They became well known for manufacturing knife pistols which were at high demand during the 1830’s because of the famed James Bowie.

James Bowie became a folk hero because of his reckless nature, contribution to the Texas Revolution and his death at the Alamo, but it was the Sandbar Fight in 1827 that made Bowie famous. After being shot and stabbed, Bowie killed Norris Wright, the Sheriff of Rapides Parish with a large knife that came to be known as the Bowie Knife.

The knife became legend and George Elgin patented the Bowie Knife on July 5, 1837. With this patent Morrill, Mossman and Blair created this type of pistol. This particular pistol is the larger version of the cutlass pistols produced by this company. Their success however was short lived when the company was dissolved in 1838.

This .54 caliber breech-loading carbine was designed in the 1850s by Ambrose E. Burnside who became a Major General in the Civil War. It fired cartridges with copper or foil casings. The Union purchased over 55,000 of them for use by cavalry.

This badge is a novelty replica of the badges worn by members of the Pinkerton Detective Agency during the second half of the 19th century. The top of the badge bears the “all-seeing eye” with Pinkerton’s motto “We Never Sleep” below. The center of the badge reads “Pinkerton National Detective Agent” above “New York” in a cartouche. The Pinkerton Agency was established by Allen Pinkerton in 1850 and became famous by protecting President Lincoln during the Civil War. After the war, the Pinkerton Agency and its detectives became notorious for their violent methods in hunting down criminals and protecting railroad shipments as well as busting strikes and suppressing the dissent of organized labor.

American engineers have been calling small flaws in machines "bugs" for over a century. Thomas Edison talked about bugs in electrical circuits in the 1870s. When the first computers were built during the early 1940s, people working on them found bugs in both the hardware of the machines and in the programs that ran them.

In 1947, engineers working on the Mark II computer at Harvard University found a moth stuck in one of the components. They taped the insect in their logbook and labeled it "first actual case of bug being found." The words "bug" and "debug" soon became a standard part of the language of computer programmers.

There were many reasons driving individuals to create beautiful and intricate works of art like this papier-mâché bonsai tree. Arts and crafts were important for managing the stress, depression, and anger of imprisonment. This bonsai tree was crafted from wood, paper, and wire at Gila River Relocation Center in Arizona.

Army Combat Uniform (ACU) worn by SGT Joseph Guenther while serving with the 82nd Airborne in Afghanistan as a forward observer in 2007-2008 and 2009-2010. The ACU is the current combat uniform worn by the United States Army, instituted in 2006 to succeed the Battle Dress Uniform (BDU). Both the camouflage pattern and the design of the ACU are different from the BDU. The camouflage pattern, known as "Universal Camouflage Pattern (UCP),” is a mixture of tan, grey and green.

The components of the Army Combat Uniform are: coat, trousers, headgear, t-shirt and footwear. The coat features a Mandarin collar, zip front with velcro reinforcement, shoulder pockets, chest pockets and elbow pad pouches; velcro above chest pockets for insignia. The trousers have a drawstring waist, cargo pockets and ankle drawstrings. The trousers are worn with a two-inch nylon web belt and have pouches for knee pad inserts. The t-shirt worn under the coat is sand-colored. Tan Army Combat boots and an Advanced Combat Helmet complete the uniform shown here.

Also shown is a Fighting Load Carrier (FLC) vest with three magazine pouches and one canteen pouch, part of the MOLLE (Modular Lightweight Load-Carrying Equipment) System used by the U.S. Army and the Marines. The vest is designed to accommodate various pouch configurations according to usage: Riflemen, SAW gunners, Medics, to name a few. The H-Harness back is designed to allow air circulation, reducing heat buildup.